World's unfriendliest nations for tourists?

By Frances Cha, CNN

Updated 0806 GMT (1606 HKT) March 14, 2013

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World's unfriendliest nation is...? – Bolivia was ranked the unfriendliest country for travelers in the World Economic Forum report. The category 'Attitude of population toward foreign visitors' is just one of many used to rank countries in the new Travel and Tourism Competitive Index. Bolivia ranked 110th out of 140 countries in the overall index results. On the positive side, it performed well in price competitiveness due mainly to low hotel accommodation costs.

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Less welcome here – Venezuela, Russia, Kuwait and Latvia rounded out the top five unfriendliest countries for tourists. Russia (third most unwelcoming) ranked 63rd overall for tourism competitiveness, blighted in the report with low marks for ground transport infrastructure and other items. The report stated, "safety and security are also of serious concern, with a high level of crime and violence and a lack of trust in the police to provide protection from crime."

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The friendlier nations – On the positive end of the scale, Iceland (pictured) and New Zealand were the friendliest countries for tourists. Morocco, Macedonia FYR, Austria and Senegal were next best. Iceland ranked 16th in the overall Travel and Tourism Competitive Index and New Zealand, 12th.

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Topping the tourism index... – Switzerland led the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index rankings for the fifth straight year since the index's inception. It performed well in almost all aspects. According to the report, "Switzerland's infrastructure, especially ground transport, is among the best in the world. The country also boasts top marks for its hotels and other tourism-specific facilities, with excellent staff thanks to the availability of qualified labor to work in the industry -- perhaps not surprising in a country that holds many of the world's best hotel management schools."

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Spain on the up – Despite its economic condition, Spain was the country in the top 10 that showed the most improvement since the last index in 2011. It moved up four places to 4th. "Spain continues to lead in cultural resources, ranking 1st this year in this area because of its extremely numerous World Heritage sites (2nd) and its large number of international fairs and exhibitions (3rd), as well as its significant sports stadium capacity. Its tourism infrastructure is another strength," the report stated.

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Best performer in the Americas – The United States was the highest-ranked country in the Americas and 6th overall in the competitive index. It received high marks for business environment and "has excellent air transport infrastructure, high quality tourism infrastructure, as well as a strong focus on customer satisfaction." Areas for improvement were ground transport and the perception of safety and security.

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Seychelles leads Africa – The Seychelles topped the rankings for Africa for the first time. The nation is dependent on its tourism industry and according to the report has the second highest travel and tourism expenditure-to-GDP ratio in the world as well as effective marketing and branding campaigns. The report said efforts to develop tourism in a sustainable way could be reinforced, "for example by increasing marine and terrestrial protection, which would help to protect the many threatened species in the country."

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And in Asia... – Singapore was the best performing Asia Pacific nation at 10th overall in the Travel and Tourism Competitive Index. The report gave high marks to the island nation for safety and security as well as infrastructure. One area of concern was its price competitiveness, which "has eroded as seen in increasing hotel prices and taxation."

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Building a 'cultural resource base' – The UAE led the Middle East at 28th overall. Noting the UAE's world-class air travel hubs, the report said that "although the UAE is not endowed with rich natural resources, it has built a cultural resource base, attracting both leisure and business travelers, with several and growing international fairs and exhibitions and increasingly diverse creative industries."

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Story highlights

World's unfriendliest country towards tourists is Bolivia

Foreign visitors feel most welcome in Iceland and New Zealand

Rankings part of WEF's Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013

Switzerland again the most competitive country

When traveling, some countries just don't like you. Or at least, it can certainly feel that way.

A new report, put out earlier this month by the World Economic Forum, has ranked which countries roll out the welcome mat to travelers and which give the cold shoulder.

The "Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013" ranked 140 countries according to attractiveness and competitiveness in the travel and tourism industries.

Unwelcoming

Among the extensive analyses, one of the most interesting rankings was how welcome tourists are in each country, under the category "Attitude of population toward foreign visitors."

And the world's most unfriendly country, according to the data?

Bolivia took the dubious honor, scoring a 4.1 out of seven on a scale of "very unwelcome" (0) to "very welcome" (7).

Venezuela and the Russian Federation were next.

Interestingly, despite their huge tourist arrivals, South Korea and China tied with four other countries for the eighth least friendly spot.

At the other end of the scale, Iceland and New Zealand were ranked the world's most welcoming nations for visitors.

You can see a top 10 for friendliest and unfriendliest at the bottom of this article.

Strengths and weaknesses

The "friendly" ranking was just one aspect of the report, analyzing each country's competitiveness in travel and tourism. That competitiveness is "based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector."

In the overall Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Europe was the top region with the first five positions all held by European countries. Switzerland, Germany and Austria were the top three in that order. Switzerland has headed the ranking since the index began five years ago.

Excellent tourism infrastructure and facilities, business travel appeal, sustainable development of natural resources and rich cultural resources were among the key factors in landing the highest positions in the rankings.

Safety/security, underdeveloped infrastructure and concerns about sustainable development were among the factors bringing down countries' competitiveness.

Haiti scored the lowest on the competitiveness index.

The United States (6th) topped the combined Americas, Singapore (10th) just pushed out Australia and New Zealand to lead the Asia Pacific region, the United Arab Emirates (28th) was the highest performer in the Middle East and the Seychelles (38th) overtook Mauritius to head Africa.

The report emphasized the need for continued development in the travel and tourism sector particularly for its role in job creation in a relatively stagnant global economy. The industry currently accounts for one in 11 jobs in the world.

The report used data compiled from the World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey and hard data from private sources and national and international agencies and organizations such as the ICAO, IATA, UNWTO, World Bank/International Finance Corporation, IUCN, WHO and UNESCO.